Our community rose to the flood challenge

Now that the immediate threat of a major flood event has passed, most of us can look back upon the events of the past few weeks and breathe a sigh of relief. While we know some of our neighbors in low-lying areas suffered property loss and damage, we can empathize knowing that our community rose to the challenge.

City, county and UI leaders, elected officials and municipal and county employees are to be commended for the seriousness with which they responded to protect the community from another potentially devastating flood.

? University of Iowa: Efforts to mobilize and protect the University of Iowa campus were led by Rod Lehnertz and his staff. Not yet recovered from the devastation of the flood of 2008, Lehnertz and his team wasted no time taking action. As soon as a potential flood event was predicted, HESCO barriers were being placed around Mayflower Residence Hall and a flood wall was being installed around Art Building West. Dozens of staff turned their time to flood protection. HESCO barriers were installed along the Iowa River as it winds through campus, and around the Iowa Memorial Union, where work is not yet complete to bring the building completely online after the 2008 flood, Danforth Chapel and the English-Philosophy Building. The message from UI leadership was clear: the institution was going to be as proactive as possible, and implement lessons learned from five years ago.

? Iowa City, Coralville, Hills and Johnson County officials: City and county officials, including Johnson County Emergency Management, were proactive instead of reactive, which surely helped save property and lessen damage. Communication through a daily news conference helped the media relay important messages and information to the public. Officials communicated well with residents - and each other. Early on, they urged the public to prepare. They continued to remind everyone to take this threat seriously. And now that the flood water has subsided, they continue to urge residents to use caution and stay on guard. Near as we can tell, they did everything right. And we should all feel lucky for that leadership.

? U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The alert was sent early, several days before any flooding occurred, that residents should prepare for a flood event similar to 1993. Without the advance notice, the damage could have been much worse. Take, for example, the earthen berm built around Parkview Church at Foster Road and Dubuque Street. Had church officials not had time - or warning - to create the manmade flood wall, the church would have suffered damage. As we were able to see from aerial photos, the berm held back flood water and did its job.

? Human services organizations: The United Way of Johnson County quickly mobilized a volunteer center, making it easy for regular folks like you or I to help others in their time of need. The center, stationed at the Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds, was the command center for volunteers. United Way officials used experience gained during the flood of 2008 and created an efficient system for people to register their need for volunteers and for volunteers to respond to those needs.

? Volunteers: Friends, neighbors and local businesses stepped up to the plate, offering help in various forms. When the calls went out for volunteers to help fill sandbags, local residents responded. Local businesses such as Hy-Vee, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Sycamore Mall helped in numerous ways from feeding volunteers to providing space for displaced businesses.

This incident is a true reminder of the can-do spirit of the greater Iowa City community. In times of need, we are here to help and take care of each other. That's something we're very proud of.

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Our community rose to the flood challenge

Now that the immediate threat of a major flood event has passed, most of us can look back upon the events of the past few weeks and breathe a sigh of relief.